This technique transforms ordinary paper into a biofunctional medium that could support a variety of diagnostic tests and lower the cost of clinical laboratory testing Is the clinical laboratory profession ready for a diagnostic technology that uses ordinary copy paper as the foundation for applying the reagents needed to run any number of fast, portable, accurate, and cheap medical laboratory assays? ts that are not just cheap, but virtually free, noted a report published by Fierce Medical Devices.continue reading

Cancer Risk Warning From Higher Than Normal Levels of Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 (cobalamin [Cbl]) is essential for maintaining healthy bodily function but higher than normal levels (reference range 200-600 pmol/L) may indicate that a patient is at risk of developing certain cancers, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Previous studies had suggested an association between high Cbl levels and specific cancers.continue reading

How Zinc Starves Lethal Bacteria to Stop Infection

Australian researchers have found that zinc can 'starve' one of the world's most deadly bacteria by preventing its uptake of an essential metal. The finding, by infectious disease researchers at the University of Adelaide and The University of Queensland, opens the way for further work to design antibacterial agents in the fight against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, the researchers describe how zinc "jams shut" a protein transporter in the bacteria so that it cannot take up manganese, an essential metal that Streptococcus pneumoniae needs to be able to invade and cause disease in humans.continue reading